


behind every great man

by RuanChunXian



Series: Three Sentence Fic-a-thon [21]
Category: Chì bì | Red Cliff (2008)
Genre: 3 Sentence Ficathon, 3 Sentence Fiction, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-11 11:58:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3326522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuanChunXian/pseuds/RuanChunXian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Behind every great man there's a great woman.</i><br/>Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu and Sun Quan were all great men.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three-Sentence Fic-a-thon 2015: http://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/119267.html  
> Prompt: Red Cliff (2008), Xiao Qiao & Sun Shangxiang, plotting Shangxiang’s undercover escapade

"What will you do if you are caught?" Xiao Qiao asked as she helped Shangxiang bind her chest; the normally fidgety princess stood unusually still and patiently as Xiao Qiao wound yards of linen around her torso tightly.

"I'll just punch my way out, of course," Shangxiang said, shrugging. Then, a mischievous twinkle appeared in her eyes, and she said, "Unless you want to teach me how to charm my way out instead?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three-Sentence Fic-a-thon 2015: http://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/119267.html  
> Prompt: Red Cliff (2008), Zhuge Liang, Huang Yueying in this version of events

She was not as unattractive as the rumours took pleasure in making her out to be, though now in the camp of Sun Quan, Kongming saw with objective eyes that she would pale next to Zhou Yu’s lady, Xiao Qiao (then again which woman didn’t?), and that she also lacked Sun Shangxiang’s liveliness. Yet she made up for it all in wisdom, shown in her first gift to him: the fan which now never left him, to help him hide his thoughts when his outer mien would not, for a man betrayed by his own feelings was vulnerable to being betrayed by men.

With the fan and his wit as his weapons, she sent him off to war. 

~*~

The acumen for which he was so highly prized by his lord was part natural gift, but a larger part product of years of cultivation, years to which his lady contributed greatly, and she taught him as much as his books ever did. So he was less surprised than most when Sun Shangxiang successfully completed her mission and unabashedly undressed in the middle of a room full of generals, advisors and her own brother to show them the map of the Cao Cao camp she hid in her undergarments, or when Xiao Qiao infiltrated that same camp to buy them time, facing the man who started this war as much for her beauty as for power. In a woman’s erudition, cunning, courage and guts, Kongming knew he had more faith than most of the men around him now, and he had his wife’s tutelage to thank for that.


End file.
